An impromptu lunch on Saturday led me and a buddy to the World Café at the Fiesta Resort & Spa on Saturday noon. The plan has always been there to try out the theme lunches at the World Café but somehow each time we plan to go it always never materializes.

It was just past 12 noon and a friendly wait staff took us to only available table at the center of the dining room. Not a very ideal spot for one who wants to observe the general lunch atmosphere but there was no choice.

We headed to the buffet section to check on what the American-Mexican theme has to offer. A chef was busy flipping burgers and rolling burritos with Mexican-inspired stuffing. I skipped the burritos and made myself a cheeseburger before heading to the section for main entrées. I skipped the noodles and the soup section for later, inhaling in the tantalizing aromas rising from the pots.

My buddy tried the Mexican favorites before loading a plate from the hot entrée section. Available were chafers of fried chicken, short-ribs in gravy, and a seafood medley with calamari, mussels, shrimp, and more. I only picked out a few items to sample since I was saving space in my stomach for something more.

The salad bar is one of the can’t-be-missed sections at the Café World. It is in a small enclosure with mirrors on the wall reflecting the simple yet appetizing items like chicken kelaguen, mixed greens with different seasonings, tomatoes, corn, cucumber slices, kimchi, pickles, salad, and fruits like watermelon, papaya and more.

The dessert section groans with a delectable array of cheesecake, fruit, pastries, a bread basket, fresh-baked desserts and more.

My buddy was not surprised when I lit up upon seeing the Halo-Halo section at the dessert bar. He knew at least more than half of my lunch will be from there, or more likely crushed ice and he was right. I made several trips to fill my glass with crushed ice and ate until my throat started sending signals to stop. World Café offers several choices of beverages like bottomless coffee, soda and more.

Lunch everyday is a different theme at the Café World but you can check out the ala carte menu to order your favorite food if you don’t fancy the theme lunches.

If you want to splurge, pick out any of the live lobster swimming in a cold aquarium just beside the salad bar and prepare for a real lobster treat.

The World Café offers diners a contemporary casual ambiance, with its rattan tables and seats adding to the comfortable aura. For some privacy, a section with glass walls facing the small pond is available but be sure to make reservations if you want to secure that spot.

If you are going to have the American-Mexican theme lunch on Saturday, or any of thelunch themes on any day, go on a hungry stomach to do justice to all the food. Stumbling in there in a half-asleep state will make you miss much, take it from me. The theme lunch costs $22 for each person, $18 for locals.

The World Café is open for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner is from 6 p.m. to 9:30 pm. For reservations and inquiries please call 234-7171 extension 1585 or call direct line 233-6414.

YOU can see the Gekka Teppanyaki Bar right across from the main restaurant near the poolside when you step into the lobby of the Mariana Resort & Spa in Marpi, its polished counter tops and comfortable chairs around the bar enticing one to come and explore the mouthwatering temptations in its menu. The Gekka Bar is dead in the daytime, but at 6 p.m. the lights go on and the bar springs to life. It was my first time to be at the Gekka on Saturday night, and my companion was convincing me to go for the BBQ Buffet.

I convinced him that we try the Gekka Teppanyaki & Bar when Marianas Resort & Spa when Executive Chef and 2013 Taste of the Marianas Chef’s Competition grand champion William C. Retardo stepped in with a brand new menu and it was not hard to give in.

On William’s recommendation, we started off with a hot appetizer—tofu steak mixed with mushroom and I got my fill taking photos and video clips as our appetizer was being prepared by Chef Jay Adarve.

I am not a big fan of tofu or mushrooms but it tasted so good the plate was clean after a few minutes. Chef Jay next prepared fresh prawns called Kuruma Eb Ougon Yaki on the grill— three large prawns which he grilled and glazed until they turned golden orange, and served with vegetable salad and half a slice of lemon. My companion almost finished all the prawns, while I dug into the salad. It was our second dish and I was already getting full. The best was yet to come. Our Sirloin Steak salad medium rare was next and again gloried in watching how it was prepared before it was all ready to eat.

Halfway into our steak, our seafood feast on a plate was served. Sumptuously arranged on a white platter was a colorful mix of fish slices, octopus, shrimps, prawn, mussels, and scallop with tomatoes, mushrooms and greens. This, too, we cleared off in a short time.

Try the other items in the hot appetizer section like the mixed sausage Sauerkraut, grilled duck sushi roll, scallop with mixed mushroom, spicy garlic shrimp and chicken wings teriyaki from $10 to $14 per order.

The cold appetizers menu includes new style salmon sashimi, beef carpaccio, prosciutto with fruits from $15 to $18 bracket.

Noodles and rice are also available like Yaki Udon, eel fried rice, garlic rice and steamed rice. Certified Angus Beef sirloin steak and tenderloin steaks are available in different sizes.

The highlight of the Gekka Teppanyaki Bar are the items in the Gekka Special Combo menu which includes the Chicken Wings Teriyaki and Baked Shrimp Combo, Angus Beef Sirloin Steak and Baked Shrimp combo, Scallop and Angus Beef Tenderloin combo, and the lobster tail and Angus Beef Sirloin Combo, all served with pickled vegetable, soup and rice.

The couple beside us ordered a live lobster and it was grilled fresh and live and served right out of the grill. It was stunning to watch chef Jay preparing eel fried rice like he was just playing, and before you know it, everything was ready and set.

Dig into the delights of homemade cake, sherbet and ice cream for $4 and fried

ice cream for $9 for dessert at the Gekka Teppanyaki Bar.

Cap your dinner with beer, whisky, wines, cocktail, no alcohol cocktail and soft drinks and juices from the beverage menu. Watching the chefs at the Gekka Teppanyaki and Bar expertly flipping, juggling, tossing and slicing ingredients mid-air with samurai-style knives is a feast to the senses. You smell the heavenly aroma wafting from the griddle making you anticipate your meal all the more. Everything at the Teppanyaki happens so fast but the memory of the food and the taste will linger not only in your mouth but in your memory, teasing your salivary glands and make you come back for more.

You can have dinner at any of the tables around the Teppanyaki if you want but the thrill of watching everything is at the counter. You can also bring your drinks and have it leisurely at the pool side as you watch island dancers and fire dancers perform during the weekends.

A NEW dining destination has opened in Garapan and it not only offers the best seafood dishes you can think of, but will also make you experience dining “under the sea” without the inconveniences that involves.

Kinpachi Restaurant has transformed its souvenir and grocery store into new blue world with a giant dolphin as a centerpiece on a round table at the center of the room.Geraldine Cordero, who manages Kinpachi Seafood, said they opened last week and are already getting a fair share of diners, not only tourists but locals as well.

Local fish with sauce. Photo by Kinpachi Restaurant

Try out Kinpachi’s Seafood specialties such as Dungeness Crab with coconut milk, local reef fish with oyster sauce and lobster roll.

Diners can also order food from Kinpachi Restaurant’s main menu and have it delivered to Kinpachi Seafood.

A small cubicle that seats up to four people offers some sort of privacy for couples who would want to dine in private.

Lobster Roll. Photo by Kinpachi Restaurant

Kinpachi Seafood provides a very relaxing ambiance. Fish and other marine life are painted on the blue walls and ceilings. It’s like being inside a huge aquarium.

The Kinpachi Seafood main entrance is on the Paseo de Marianas across from the Saipan Store, but you can also use Kinpachi Restaurant’s main door on Coral Tree Avenue across from the Fiesta Resort & Spa parking lot.

Kinpachi Seafood can seat up to 90 persons and is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Credit cards are accepted. For inquiries or reservations, call 234-6900.

SALTY’S Grill & Café in Garapan is the only dining spot on island that has purely local cuisine on their menu.It’s also a spacious, open dining place with wooden floors and big plastic white tables and matching chairs.

A companion and I were there recently, and I decided to try a local appetizer I was familiar with — beef kelaguen — while my companion ordered the poki bowl. My kelaguen was served after a few minutes — beef strips with pickles and bits of sliced onions served on a round plate lined with banana leaf and adorned with a white plumeria and half a slice of lemon.

The beef kelaguen was good, the beef strips tender and well-marinated. It was kind of spicy but not too much.

My companion’s poki bowl came next — fresh tuna sashimi slices sprinkled with bits of onion and served on a bed of lettuce on top of a serving of steamed rice. It was a full dinner by itself.

Salty’s Grill & Café is an ideal place to hang out for a drink if you want fresh, open spaces without the humming of air-conditioning units and confining walls.

The bar is open from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. and has a wide selection of wines, cocktails, beer and other beverages. Chasers include fried chicken, French fries, endamame, Chamorro sausage, raisin, peanuts and potato chips.

Salty’s Grill & Café is located in Garapan beside Panda Store (formerly Chicago) and is open every day from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Credit cards are accepted. For inquiries or reservations call 888-9451, email office@saltys670.com or visit http://www.saltys670.com.

DINING at the Broadway Restaurant of the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino is nothing new. I’ve been there countless times in the past five years but this time, it was different. Gone were the hundreds of diners who come in for the buffet breakfasts and lunches. We were there for dinner for the first time, after the Broadway was transformed into an ala carte restaurant.

The Broadway Restaurant dinner is a destination fit for someone who has been starving for the whole day. For $15 per person, you can have a feast from the cold selection bar—Caesar Salad, mixed greens, macaroni, potato salad, coleslaw, selection of daily seafood, cheese platter and cold cut meats; Western or Asian soup of the day, bottomless coffee or tea, and a feast of the most tempting desserts in the island.

From the ala carte, we tried the Certified Angus steaks—heavenly slices of Filet Mignon, 8-oz Rib-eye and sirloin steak dripping with mushroom sauce or black pepper sauce and served with mashed potatoes or steamed rice. Spear into the succulent slices of the medium rare beef with its pleasantly tender texture with its marinade penetrating far into the meat and leaving you craving for more.

You should also try the grilled pork chop, grilled lamb chop and island style fried chicken.

I ordered the Catch of the Day, grilled slices of unagi served with steamed rice and tartar sauce. I also ordered finadeni sauce and we all traded slices of each other’s dishes.

Lunch Menu

The dessert station is a temptation bar by itself. Not exactly a dessert lover myself, I was surprised to find all the items not that sweet.

The feast was not over. At noon the next day, Chell and I headed to the Broadway Restaurant again to try the Continental Breakfast which is $15 per person and includes an eat all you can breads and pastries, cold selection, a Japanese Corner where you can get your fill of steamed rice, grilled fish, miso soup with tofu and seaweed, pickles and takwang, and bottomless fruit juices, coffee or tea from the beverage section.

For ala carte you can go Western or Asian. We tried the egg set with you can get any style with a choice of bacon, ham or sausage and served with your choice of hash brown potato, toast, the waffle which became my instant favorite, and the pancake,

For other choices you can go Asian and try the rice congee with choice of chicken, pork, beef or Century egg, the chicken fried noodles or fried vermicelli, or wonton noodle soup.

We also ordered some items from the lunch menu like the beef brisket and the fried rice which, unlike any other fried rice, tasted so good it was a full meal by itself. The salted fish was rarely visible—thin strips mixed into the fried rice but you can taste it in the flavor.

Your $10 lunch gives you free access to an all you can eat selections at the salad bar, Western or Asian soup of the day and bottomless coffee or tea.

salad, cold cuts and desert bar

Try the Western ala carte menu and order pasta, the Baccarat Burger or the Club Sandwich, chicken fried vermicelli, Wonton noodle soup.

Chef Ramon said diners who order anything from the ala carte menu automatically get a 50 percent discount for the breakfast, lunch and dinner prices. That means

Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino executive sous chef Ramon Apostol

Tinian Dynasty Food & Beverage manager Geoffrey Jones Garcia said they will be making changes in the menu every now and then, and invites the community to try their mouthwatering dishes at very affordable prices.

The Broadway Restaurant opens for breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.

IF you haven’t been to the Costa Terrace Restaurant at the Aqua Resort Club in San Roque lately, here is one reason you should go back. New changes and new dishes have been added to the popular Sunday Brunch that would guarantee to set your mouth water.

I and a companion arrived at the Costa ahead of the usual Sunday Brunch crowd yesterday for lunch, which meant the kitchen staff where just finalizing the buffet lunch displays, and I got to shoot photos of all the food when no one has dug into them yet, leaving only memories of the sumptuous dishes.

Aqua Resort Club’s new executive chef Yasunori Abe who was installed just last August 1 said they change some of the dishes every now and then for variation, but the regular features will remain like the roast beef, pork lechon, Sashimi section, Pasta section, seafood section and the tempura section.

The Gourmet Sunday Brunch at the Costa Restaurant includes everything delectable that you can stuff yourself with—from appetizers, soups, salad section with a selection of Japanese and Korean dips, main dishes, desserts, pasta and noodle station, sushi and tempura, bread and cheese section, and more that you will find it hard deciding where to start and how to stop.

A wide variety of the freshest seafood selections tastefully arranged on a wooden boat is available on a bed of ice cubes like mussels, shrimps, octopus, sashimi and crabs, with various sauces and dipping.

Aqua Resort Club’s in-house singer Bobby Prada will serenade diners with relaxing timeless songs as you take your fill of the buffet, or relax with cups of coffee or glasses of wine after a heavy brunch.

The clear glass windows of the Costa Terrace Restaurant offers a spectacular view of the ocean, the swimming pool, the bluest of skies, the Pool Bar and flowering plants in the beautifully-maintained gardens.

The spaciousness and relaxing ambiance of the Costa Restaurant makes you feel you can take lunch in a leisurely manner, enjoy your meal without thinking of the daily pressures and routine.

cheese station

We did not leave right after lunch. The Aqua Resort Club lobby, poolside and gardens have always been my favorite hangout and my favorite spot to shoot photos, and I spent a good one hour taking photos. My companion was gone, and I found him dozing off at one of the plush sofas at the lobby.

The Costa Restaurant can seat up to 90 persons and up to 200 persons if extended to the Raraina Main Dining for big occasions with more guests.

“We are inviting the community to come and try our Sunday Brunch and enjoy a relaxing afternoon,” Abe said.

The Seafood Night Buffet is every Tuesday and Friday from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. inclusive of all-you-can-drink beers. Saturdays at the Costa are Steak & Wine nights from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with its popular eat all you can Certified Angus Beef Rib Eye steak, plus bottomless red or white wines, and beers.

ARE you craving for a real seafood feast? Here is a new destination on Friday nights — the Buffet World of Saipan World Resort in Susupe.

Newly refurbished, the Buffet World offers a great selection of the freshest seafood on top of its barbeque, dessert and sushi stations.

A long line of diners was already waiting outside before the Buffet World opened its doors on Friday night. The tables and the buffet lines filled up fast. I proceeded to the far end of the room where the sushi bar was. Sushi chef Joey Estuesta was busy arranging different kinds of sushi and they were “disappearing” faster than he could prepare new ones.

There were also trays of steamed green mussels, steamed blue crabs, shrimp as well as fresh sashimi slices neatly arranged on boat-shaped platters.

The barbecue and dessert stations were also irresistible to diners.

Saipan World Resort sales and marketing department/local sales manager Michael Babauta said seafood night Friday was their response to the strong demand for seafood from tourists and locals.

“Our executive chef and his team came up with a menu that will surely make you taste buds jump and sing,” Babauta said, adding that they also revamped the buffet line.

“Our executive chef wanted it to have a greater impact so we now have better lighting, better fixtures and a better buffet line,” he said.

You have to check it out.

“We are inviting the community to a unique dining experience — mouthwatering seafood and succulent specials,” Babauta said.

The price is $27 for adults and half price for children, inclusive of unlimited drinks.

Seafood night starts at 6 p.m. every Friday. The restaurant is also open for breakfast at 7 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 a.m. Major credit cards are accepted. For reservations, call 234-5900 extension 388 or 377.